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What all broadcasters need to do is eliminate about 20% of their channels and funnel the programs from those stations to their other channels. That would severely cut costs without adding overhead. That would allow everyone to simply not change the prices they charge overall for several years, making most people generally happy.

I'm sure all but the most hopeless of managements has done cost/benefit analysis on just that, and concluded that they'll muddle on same ole, same ole. Plus not everyone has 5 channels or more to cut 20%.

It would be nice to have a routine run on the receivers to MOVE timers when channels move. The only people this message is going to help are those who watch AMC for more than just the top shows.

The whole point of a DVR timer is to be able to set up your favorite shows and not have to think about them. I have timers on my 622 from years ago that last from season to season ... even some cancelled shows (every once in a while they come back). Once I have chosen a favorite show and know the channel I just wait until it appears in the recorded show list and watch it.

A "check your timers" message on the wrong channel (AMC was on 130) is not helpful for the subscriber who is using timers and not watching AMC at other times. Hopefully people check their timers regularly and catch the "wrong program" skipped recordings on the old channel numbers.

That just kind of sucks what dish is doing there. I don't think they have any intention of signing to keep that channel on even if it's free based on what they just did. Moving it to what appears to be no mans land so people won't see the "this change Is abut to get dropped" scrolls is down right sleezy IMHO.

I am surprised that timers don't follow change changes. They do on DIRECTV. Of course in this case, dish doesn't care, they don't want you seeing anything else on this channel ever again it appears.

It would be nice to have a routine run on the receivers to MOVE timers when channels move.

Agree. I've said this before, and even asked Dish about it... Seems like they could write an algorithm that looks for the changes and fixes timers behind the scenes for these kind of known situations... send some extra data down in the uplink that moves everything around so the receivers know to repair the broken timers.

The only people this message is going to help are those who watch AMC for more than just the top shows.

I really think that is the point Dish is looking to drive home. That almost nobody watches AMC... and the few who do like the handful of popular shows don't care about the channel the rest of the time.

IF AMC was a popular channel, more people would notice immediately... but since their award-winning programming isn't on until the weekend... Dish makes a big change on Monday-Wednesday and nobody notices until Sunday night when their timer (note not watching live even then) messes up.

I agree its a crappy thing Dish is doing to Dish subscribers... but I kind of get the point they are trying to drive home.

I guarantee if they took ESPN, for example, or TNT or something down like this WAY more people would notice much sooner.

I am sure Dish is noting what they've done and noting how few calls they are getting.... and will be using that to counter the claims that AMC deserves more money. Dish will respond with "nobody noticed when we moved the channels around so exactly how popular are you?"

There are several programs I have timers set for on networks I generally don't watch. I rely on those timers to catch the show when it goes in season and back out again. Some of those programs I'd have to check the timer to tell you what network they are on.

DISHPass works great if you want to risk a DVR full of incorrect matches or KNOW that the program could change channel. The way that DISH makes it easiest to set a timer is channel specific.

Knowing a channel will move is important. Not everyone follows DBS discussion on the Internet or "likes" satellite providers on Facebook and their moves are not pre-announced via their satellite feeds (at best the old channel gets a messed up EPG/slate).

Agree. I've said this before, and even asked Dish about it... Seems like they could write an algorithm that looks for the changes and fixes timers behind the scenes for these kind of known situations... send some extra data down in the uplink that moves everything around so the receivers know to repair the broken timers.

I really think that is the point Dish is looking to drive home. That almost nobody watches AMC... and the few who do like the handful of popular shows don't care about the channel the rest of the time.

IF AMC was a popular channel, more people would notice immediately... but since their award-winning programming isn't on until the weekend... Dish makes a big change on Monday-Wednesday and nobody notices until Sunday night when their timer (note not watching live even then) messes up.

I agree its a crappy thing Dish is doing to Dish subscribers... but I kind of get the point they are trying to drive home.

I guarantee if they took ESPN, for example, or TNT or something down like this WAY more people would notice much sooner.

I am sure Dish is noting what they've done and noting how few calls they are getting.... and will be using that to counter the claims that AMC deserves more money. Dish will respond with "nobody noticed when we moved the channels around so exactly how popular are you?"

Nice to know Dish considers me a nobody. It also looks like I'm not alone. And I think we all kind of get the point Dish is driving home. We just differ on what that point is.

Nice to know Dish considers me a nobody. It also looks like I'm not alone. And I think we all kind of get the point Dish is driving home. We just differ on what that point is.

Hey, I said it was a crappy move... because Dish is sticking it to their own customers...

But how many have called to complain really? Relative to the 14 million subscribers, who wants to guess even a half of a percent of Dish customers know the AMC channels moved?

I'm not saying you don't count... I just recognize my place in the fishbowl... and I know I don't count for much in the scheme of things.

To be blunt... IF I weren't a DBSTalk member, I still wouldn't know that AMC moved or was in danger of being dropped because all I watch on that channel is the Walking Dead and that won't be back until October with new episodes... so honestly, I would be in the dark if not for this forum.

AMC could go off for the entire summer and get a last-minute reprieve renewal in time for October airings of the Walking Dead... and I would be none the wiser.

Heck, when Dish first got AMC in HD... I didn't know until coming here! And I had not watched the SD channel in years prior to Walking Dead season 1.

I'm not saying the channel has no value... but it is one of those channels I only watch a specific program and don't browse it at all for other shows.

I think that dish and direct tv should drop AMC. AMC programming is one of the worst of all. AMC takes a movie that most other stations run in two hours and turns it into a three hour program in order to get more commercials for for the same movie. This should be against the law as I am tired of watching so many commercials. I pay to watch tv and should not have to pay to watch this many commercials. Get rid of AMC!!!!

I think that dish and direct tv should drop AMC. AMC programming is one of the worst of all. AMC takes a movie that most other stations run in two hours and turns it into a three hour program in order to get more commercials for for the same movie. This should be against the law as I am tired of watching so many commercials. I pay to watch tv and should not have to pay to watch this many commercials. Get rid of AMC!!!!

I really think that is the point Dish is looking to drive home. That almost nobody watches AMC... and the few who do like the handful of popular shows don't care about the channel the rest of the time.

IF AMC was a popular channel, more people would notice immediately... but since their award-winning programming isn't on until the weekend... Dish makes a big change on Monday-Wednesday and nobody notices until Sunday night when their timer (note not watching live even then) messes up.

Err, AMC is a popular channel. It is in the Top 20, around 15/16 in viewership. DVR's have spoiled most of us. I rarely watch a channel live. I think most people wouldn't miss it until a day or two after their program was suppose to be recorded. I think this argument could be used on nearly all cable channels.

I agree its a crappy thing Dish is doing to Dish subscribers... but I kind of get the point they are trying to drive home.

I guarantee if they took ESPN, for example, or TNT or something down like this WAY more people would notice much sooner.

Well, I only watch TNT during the NCAA Basketball tournament. So I wouldn't miss it until next March. And that channel only has a few hours per week of original programming. Move it to the 9000's and I bet many people wouldn't miss it until they had time to watch their TNT recorded program. You're right about ESPN. But very few people watch recorded sports.

Nice to know Dish considers me a nobody. It also looks like I'm not alone. And I think we all kind of get the point Dish is driving home. We just differ on what that point is.

Yes, I get the point too. If Dish is so concerned about pricing so their service is affordable to their customers, then why did they just dump a load on those same customers? This is personal between Charlie and the Dolans. Customers be damned!

Nice to know Dish considers me a nobody. It also looks like I'm not alone. And I think we all kind of get the point Dish is driving home. We just differ on what that point is.

I also want to thank Dish for considering me a nobody...........well this nobody is quickly tiring of these games. I want what I pay for. I have been paying for AMC for 10 years & as far as I know, my monthly charge will stay the same. Instead they HDNET in the channel lineup twice or add a great channel like Viera or RFDTV or better yet, add another shopping channel.

If they do drop it at the start of July then they have 2 weeks until Breaking Bad starts. 2 weeks to sign an agreement. 2 weeks to keep me.

I am sure they are not taking a lot of these threats seriously. We will see. We have seen these spats before from Dish and DTV. They all eventually got resolved.

Dish already decided to drop AMC Networks when they removed those channels from their pdf line-up cards. That was a full 7 weeks before the deadline. When Dish removed those channels from the line-up cards so quickly, it became apparant to me that they weren't negotiating in good faith. Those 2 weeks between the deadline and the start of Breaking Bad aren't going to matter unless Rainbow completely caves in (which is possible if too many advertisers get po'd).